These Backlit, Macro Photos of Leaves Look Like Lava Landscapes

Turkish macro photographer Can Tunçer recently turned his camera onto ordinary leaves in order to study the details of nature. After back-lighting a leaf, Tunçer was surprised to find that up-close, it looked like a lava landscape.

“I especially chose this leaf because there were sections drying and ‘dying’ on it,” Tunçer tells PetaPixel. “When I backlit the dry/dead part of the leaf, a very interesting texture was formed.”

Here are some views of the rig Tunçer used to set up, light, and shoot these macro photos:

Tunçer captured a total of 1,400 photos over two weeks using a Canon 6D DSLR and two Ikea Jansjö LED work lamps for lighting. The lenses used were a Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 5x and a Nikon CF Plan 10x 0.30 WD 16.5.

Each of the final photos was created by focus stacking multiple images for a single, sharper image with a much greater depth of field.

All the photos you see here are views of just two different leaves.

You can find more of Tunçer’s work on his Instagram, Flickr, and 500px. We previously featured his macro photos of peacock feathers.